Paul’s Trial Before Felix
Passage: Acts 24:1-21
On the stage before us are a politician, Antonius Felix, the Roman governor of Judea and a prisoner by the name of Paul. Who does history most remember?
If it weren’t for this single story in Acts 24 we would know nothing of Felix from Scripture. Yet his prisoner will go down as one of the greatest influences in the history of the world. Such is the way of God who uses what is weak and foolish to shame the strong and wise in the world.
The fulness of this narrative reminds us of the importance of this story in the life of Paul and in the advance of the truth of the Gospel and its spread all the way to Rome. Luke is showing us the humble means God uses to spread His truth about Jesus.
What happens when the Gospel is put on trial? And consider this, the Gospel is put on trial everyday in our world and even in our own hearts. How am I living? Who am I living for? What do we most trust, politics, man-made and man-centered religion, works righteousness?
What rules your heart, law or grace? Are you in bondage to appearances or are you free from the opinion of man? Is the Gospel good news that sets us free?